KSLN Attorneys Amanda Machacek and Samantha Catone have obtained a no-cause on behalf of General Contractor in Labor Law case in NYS Supreme Court (Erie County).
After a 15-day trial, Amanda Machacek and Sammy Catone from KSLN’s NYS Labor Law Defense Practice Group successfully obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a local General Contractor against Dolce Panepinto, one of the most prominent Labor Law plaintiff's firms in WNY. The 47 year-old plaintiff alleged he was injured after the parking brake on the forklift he was operating failed, causing him to chase after the forklift and slip on a mud and debris covered sidewalk, resulting in alleged career ending injuries to his knee and back. Plaintiff asserted a Labor Law §241(6) cause of action based on six alleged Industrial Code Regulation violations, in addition to Labor Law §200 (failure to provide a safe place to work) and negligence claim. At trial, plaintiff argued the defendants put production and scheduling over worker safety. Plaintiff was originally granted summary judgment on the violations of five Industrial Code Regulations, which Samantha successfully obtained reversal of on appeal. After the incident, the plaintiff had knee surgery (in addition to the alleged need for a future total knee replacement) and five back surgeries (including an alleged additional future fusion surgery) and asked the jury for $9.8 million in damages. Plaintiff’s proof lasted 12 days and consisted of five fact witnesses, a safety expert, four damages witnesses, four treating providers, an expert economist, and a life care planner. The defense argued the plaintiff could not satisfy his burden of proof on the liability or injury claims. The jury returned a verdict after approximately five hours of deliberations over the course of two days and found that the General Contractor was not negligent and neither the General Contractor, nor its subcontractor, violated any of the six alleged Code Regulations.